The kitchen is the second most crucial part of your home after the bedroom. It’s where we cook, clean, and possibly even eat, but it’s also where we keep our appliances and tools necessary to prepare food daily.
With the onset of the pandemic, people have begun to appreciate the value of their kitchen more, and at the same time, they’ve been using it more. Whether you’re a dedicated baker, a home chef, or just a regular person who cooks often, we have five functional small kitchen appliances below that you should have.
Food Processor
A food processor can do many things that a blender can do like puree, shred, and blend, but it can also do much more. A food processor can knead, grate, slice, and grind vegetables and other ingredients without any additional liquid that a traditional blender might need. A food processor can also knead the dough with the correct settings and the suitable model.
With that being said, a food processor is a significant investment simply because you won’t be needing a blender anymore. Just pick a model that has great versatility and an array of blades and mixers.
Air Fryer
An air fryer is one of the more recent small kitchen appliances. It’s essentially an amped-up convection oven, and it’s able to achieve the results of deep-frying without just hot air. No oil!
More than 40% of homes in the U.S. have an air fryer. Its popularity surged over the past few years. We know that nothing beats the crunch you get from chicken or fries deep-fried in oil, but air-frying is way healthier and less of a hassle than frying food with oil.
Sandwich Maker
A sandwich is one of the most convenient and preferred fast food in the world because you won’t need any utensils and you can eat it on the go, this makes the sandwich maker one of the most convenient small kitchen appliances you can have. You can have a crisp and warm sandwich with melted cheese in as quickly as 5 minutes whenever you want.
Most sandwich makers also double as waffle makers. You can simply replace the removable plates with your preferred pattern, slather some butter on the leaves, and cook your waffles. Because of its versatility, a sandwich maker is bound to be used at least once a day for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even midnight snacks if you’re that type of person.
Microwave
If the food processor is the most versatile and the sandwich maker is the most convenient, the microwave is the most essential appliance to have ever graced people’s kitchens. A microwave heats food almost instantaneously, and they’re very durable and easy to operate.
Microwave not only heats food, but it can also cook food (not only microwaveable food), roast garlic, bring out the aroma of other garnishes, and even thaw out meat. Just make sure to input the correct settings.
Another important yet often underrated use for a microwave is for disinfecting kitchen items. Scrub pads, sponges, and other similar kitchen items can be disinfected using the microwave. Ensure that the sponges are completely wet, put them in the oven for at least two minutes, and you’re good to go.
Rice Cooker
Although the rice cooker seems to be a niche appliance, more and more people in the world have appreciated them (not only Asians). A rice cooker is criminally underrated. It can do a lot of things aside from cooking rice perfectly, like making a hot breakfast with oatmeal or hot cereals or making risotto without stirring, steaming vegetables.
You can also use rice cookers to slow cook soups and stews without worrying about an open fire. Almost all rice cookers come with a timer, so there isn’t much to fear when it comes to overcooking.
Which appliance is your must-have item? If you have a small kitchen, make sure to get one, two or all of these small kitchen essentials!